Sacred Hearts Academy
by Lola Estheim
Summary: AU/ Crossover What if the worlds got destroyed? What if Noel Kreiss had a little sister? What if Roxas and Ventus were brothers? As well as Sora and Vanitas? What if Cloud liked Lightning? And what if Gippal cheated on Rikku? Or if Zack was Serah's boyfriend? What if Aerith was a teacher? Or if Jecht was the Blitzball coach? Or if, God, forbid,strange things started happening?
1. New Beginnings

**This is my first KH/FF crossover and I just wanted to say that I've modified some characters' ages to fit the story so there will be no complaints. I hope you like it :)**_  
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* * *

_Ten years had gone by since the worlds were destroyed. Kingdom Hearts was taken over by the Heartless... Spira was destroyed by Sin… Everything else was taken over by the darkness, sucking the life out of all of the planets. People migrated to this new planet called Espia._

* * *

**LILY POV **

I'd been homeschooled most of my life. I was 16. I thought it was time for a change, so I asked my parents if I could go to a real school. And they agreed to let me and my brother go.

Today I was going to a school called Sacred Hearts Academy. I didn't know anyone that went there, being that I lived several cities away. It was a boarding school. My parents thought it was best. I honestly didn't care. It's not like I wouldn't be coming home for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I was going to be taken there by a boat. It was located on Asper Island, a small island a few miles away from the coastal city of Jaelin. "You ready to go?" asked my older brother, Noel, who'd just appeared in my doorway.

I nodded. I was excited. "Yeah," I said, grabbing my suitcase.

"Let me put that in the car for you," Noel said, lifting my duffle bag off of the floor. He disappeared out of my room. I stood in the doorway, looking at my room one last time. I'd see it again in a couple months.

My parents and Noel were already in the car when I stepped on the pavement of the driveway. I shoved my suitcase in the trunk, but it wouldn't close. I pulled out Noel's blitzball out, so that my suitcase would fit. I slammed the trunk closed and hopped in the backseat, throwing the stupid ball at my brother. "Hey! Careful with the merchandise. I paid _good_ gil for this thing," Noel said proudly.

I rolled my eyes. "Nobody cares about Blitzball _except_ you, Noel." My father started driving toward the port where our boat was leaving.

"I heard Sacred Hearts Academy has the best Blitzball team in the _world_!" he exclaimed. "I'm joining."

"It's the _only_ world, Noel," I said. He narrowed his eyes at me, then put his earphones in to listen to his music. I shrugged and looked out of the window, wondering what lay ahead. Would I like my new school? Would I make new friends? Would the people there be nice? Or would they be mean and snooty? Would I even like my classes? I wondered what my schedule would be like.

Noel and I hugged our parents one last time before they finally let us board the boat. The attendant took our luggage, giving us a small tag so that we could pick our luggage up when we got to the island.

Noel went off to the snack bar, on the lower deck. I stayed on the top deck, waiting for the boat to sail. Nobody was up there. I assumed that everyone was downstairs. But I wasn't sure if I was quite ready to socialize. A moment or so later, the boat started moving. I went over to the edge, looking out into the ocean. The sun was high in the sky, shining brightly on my skin.

A group of noisy kids were making their way toward where I was standing. They stopped a few feet away. I heard them arguing about something, but I was out of earshot. From the corner of my eye, I saw that one of the guys was being pushed toward me. I was startled. "Hey," he said. "Are you new this year?"

"Yeah," I said, looking back at the boy's friends. They were giggling about something. I couldn't tell whether they were making fun of me or not. "I'm Lily."

"I'm Ventus," he said. "But you can call me Ven." I smiled. "Do you want to hang with us?" he asked, gesturing to his friends.

"Okay," I said, deciding not to pass up an opportunity to make some new friends. He was cute. His golden blonde hair shone in the sunlight and his blue eyes were sparkling. Were all the guys as cute as Ventus?

He led me to his friends. I saw another guy that looked just like him. Noticing my expression, he said, "That's my twin, Roxas. He's the one with the bad attitude and the attention span of a grain of sand."

"Hey!" protested the boy named Roxas. Then his attention turned back to another boy with snowy white hair and icy aqua colored eyes. _I guess he does have the attention span of a grain of sand_, I thought, laughing to myself.

Ventus continued. "This is Riku, Kairi, Vanitas, and Sora. Sora and Vanitas are fraternal twins, in case you were wondering."

"Hi, I'm Lily," I said, smiling. "I'm new this year."

"Are you a junior too?" Sora asked curiously.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. Noel came up behind me, tapping me on my shoulder. "This is my older brother, Noel. He's a senior."

"Hey," Noel said. I introduced him to everyone, so Ventus wouldn't have to again. "Are any of you gonna try out for the Blitzball team?"

"None of us play. To be honest, we suck," said Riku. "You should probably talk to Tidus. He's the captain. He'll tell you all about it."

"Thanks," Noel said, nodding at Riku. He turned to me. "I'll catch up with you later. I'm gonna go find this Tidus guy."

* * *

**NOEL POV**

I went down to the lower deck after leaving Lily with her new friends. They seemed nice enough. I was debating whether or not to ask around for this Tidus guy. A girl with pink hair walked past me. "Excuse me," I said, brushing a hand across her arm. She turned around and smiled. "You know where I can find Tidus?"

"Yeah," she said softly. Whoever this girl was, he liked her voice. That one word rolled off of her tongue perfectly. "He's talking to his dad, well, the Blitzball coach."

"Thanks," I said.

She didn't move, so I assumed that she wanted to make conversation. "I'm Serah. You must be new."

"Yeah. I'm Noel. I'm a senior."

"Me too," she said. "I think you'll like Sacred Hearts. The campus is huge. They have everything! You can go shopping, too. But that stuff's mostly online."

"Good to know," I said. "I think I want to try out for the team… for Blitzball."

"I _love_ Blitzball! Well, I like to watch. There aren't too many people good at it here, except Tidus," she said, then added, "and possibly you."

"That's a shame," I said, a huge smile forming across my face.

"There's Tidus," she said, pointing to a tanned blonde kid with blue eyes. "Hey, Tide!"

"_Heeeey_!" he said way too loudly for my liking. Tidus jogged over and immediately introduced himself to me. "I'm Tidus, _captain_ of the Sacred Hearts Blitzers!"

"I'm Noel," I said. "I just wanted to talk to you about Blitzball."

"You've got the right guy," he said. "Tryouts are next Friday. I wanna bring our team to victory! We win the tournament every year and that shouldn't change!" I liked Tidus. He had the same enthusiasm for Blitzball as I did. I had to get on the team. I just had to.

* * *

**CLOUD POV**

I looked across the room at the unmistakably beautiful girl sitting at a table across from her sister and some guy I'd never seen before. My best friend Zack was dating her younger sister, Serah. Serah was beautiful too, but Claire was who I wanted. People called her Lightning. Light for short. But I didn't know why.

This was my second year at Sacred Hearts and Claire and I had hardly said more than two words to each other. _I think it was the time she thanked me for picking up her pen in history_, I thought, remembering.

Zack always encouraged me to talk to her, but she didn't look very approachable. "Well neither do you," Zack had said. It was true. I guess I didn't really give off the whole I-wanna-talk-to-you vibe.

But this year, things were going to change. I was going to talk to her. Maybe I'd take her on a date, if she'd let me. I wasn't too sure about that, but we could at least be friends, right? I didn't especially like rejection, especially not from the girl I'd had a crush on for a year.

"You're _staring_," said Zach, snapping me out of my thoughts. He took a seat on my right, laughing softly. "You don't want her to think you're a creep, do you?"

"I'm such an idiot," I groaned, putting my hands over my face in embarrassment. "Did she see?"

"No," he said. "_Luckily_, she was too busy talking to Serah and that new guy. His name's Noel. Looks like you have some competition, Strife."

"Shut up, Zack," I said, punching him in the arm.

"Ouch," he said, rubbing the spot where I'd hit him. "All I'm trying to say is that… if you don't make your move soon, she might choose someone else." It was possible. But I couldn't picture Claire in a relationship at all, not even with me.

"I doubt it," I said. "But you're right." My other best friend, Tifa appeared. "Tifa!"

"Hey guys," she said, sitting on the other side of me. "What's up?"

Before I could respond, Zack was telling the story about how I refused to talk to Claire. I wasn't listening. I was too busy thinking of all the possible ways to get rejected. "…He's just so stubborn," I heard Zack complain.

* * *

**LILY POV**

I grabbed all of my bags and followed Ventus and the others off of the boat, and onto the sandy beach. I saw the campus in the distance. There were hundreds of different buildings, or at least it appeared true. Ventus appeared next to me. "It may look close, but this is one hell of a walk," he said.

"Thanks for the heads up," I said.

"No problem," he said, before speeding up a little. I, along with everyone else, struggled as we pulled our suitcases and bags through the sand. Hot sand made its way into my sandals. I suddenly wished I'd decided to wear sneakers.

I was thankful when we finallygot onto the pavement. I heard a million suitcase wheels rolling on the ground, almost in sync. I looked behind me to see that Noel was talking to a girl with pink hair. I was glad that he'd met some new people too.

Our transition hadn't been bad at all. Neither one of us were shy, but Noel was the more talkative one. I was more… reserved, I guess. But that didn't mean that I was soft. I stood up for myself. And I had an attitude that came out, only if triggered.

I hurried to catch up with Riku, the first person I spotted out of the rest of my new friends. It was easy to spot him, with white hair and all. He always seemed to know what he was talking about anyway. "Riku!" I panted. "Where are we going exactly?"

"Well we're trying to hurry up so we can get in the main building. Getting room assignments and schedules is the worst part. You have to line up, not in any specific order, which is why we're trying to hurry so we don't have to wait an hour like those guys back there will," he explained. "It can get pretty boring."

"Oh, so that's why everyone rushed off of the boat like that," I said, just remembering.

"Yeah. It's like that every year. At least we'll be in the same dorms for sure. Freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors all have separate dorms."

"Cool," I said. Then I realized we were getting closer to the main building. It was made of light grey stone. The windows were huge and touched the floor. Students were already starting to pour into the large hallway. I looked at a man standing near the door, trying to get everyone inside in an orderly fashion.

He divided us into two separate lines. "That's Headmaster Vayne. He's not as mean as he looks," Riku said from in front of me. "Let's move up. I see Ven and Rox up there." I followed, but I felt bad about skipping. We ended up cutting in front of some freshman so that we could be behind Ventus and the others. "Hey!" cried a freshman. "We were here _first_! You can't just skip us!"

Roxas pushed past Riku to face the now terrified looking freshman. "If you don't want to get your head dunked in the toilet _every_ day for the rest of the year, I suggest you keep your mouth shut!" The freshman looked down to the ground, in defeat.

Roxas gave me a weak smile before walking back over to his bags. Ventus leaned closer to me and whispered, "I told you he's an asshole."

"You never told me that," I said, laughing. He shrugged and said, "Now you know." He winked. I liked Ventus. We got along easily. He'd make a good friend. Well, I still had a lot to learn about him. But so far, he was sweet.

Soon enough, I was next. The woman behind the desk asked me for my name. "Lily Kreiss." The woman handed me a few sheets of paper, a map, a handbook, and a room key in the form of a card. She told me to stand still and smile for my identification picture, so I did. A moment later, she handed me my i.d. card. I slid it in my pocket.

I stepped off to the side, allowing the next person to get a turn. I scanned my schedule. I had History, Combat, Gym, Technology, Black and White Magic, English, Government, Bestiary, and Potions. Not all in one day, of course.

Then I looked at my room assignment. I was in room 2C in a building called the Hall of Rapid Waters. I pulled out my map and saw that it was to the right of the building I was in. I spotted Noel walking my way. "What dorm are you in?"

He smiled. "The Hall of Dancing Flames. That's where all the seniors are."

"I heard. I'll catch up with you later. I'm gonna put these stupid bags in my new room."

"Okay," Noel said before going to talk to a tall boy with blue hair. I wondered what grade _he_ was in. He was cute.

I shook my head and went outside, following the map to the Hall of Rapid Waters. A minute or two later, I was walking into the lobby of my dorm. The floors were blue, I guessed, because water was supposed to be blue. As a matter of fact, everything was blue. The floors, the walls, the curtains, and the furniture were all different shades of blue: baby blue, sky blue, indigo, navy, and so on. I felt like I was thrown into an ocean with a bunch of fish.

There were a bunch of people I didn't know standing around in the lobby. They were probably waiting for their friends to arrive. I took the _blue_ elevator up to the second floor because I refused to waste all of my energy on carrying my heavy bags up the _blue_ staircase. I put my duffle bag down on the _blue_ carpet, dragging it because it was starting to get heavy on my shoulder.

I got to my room, 2C, and opened the door with my key card. The room was pretty big, a suite to be more specific. I stood in the living room, complete with a powder blue sofa and matching armchairs, and a tv. In the corner, there was a small navy blue wooden table with chairs to match. To my left was the bathroom which, of course, was painted sky blue. I chose the room on the right since my roommate hadn't arrived.

Surprisingly, the walls were white. I threw my bag across the bed and put all of my papers on my desk. I took a breather. This was home now. I opened my suitcase, opening the pack of purple sheets my mother had bought me the other day. I quickly spread them across the bed and neatly put my comforter on top.

I walked over to the window, opening the blinds. From my window, I saw Ventus… or was it Roxas? I couldn't be sure. I suddenly didn't remember what either of them had been wearing in the first place.

I looked at the clock. It was five. I'd probably have to get something to eat first. I wanted to look around, but not by myself. I wondered where Kairi and Namine were, but remembered that they were younger… sophomores, to be exact.

As soon as I walked out of my room, the front door opened and a girl crashed onto the navy carpet. "Owie," she whimpered. I rushed over to help her up.

"Are you okay?" I asked. I picked up her cellphone, which had flown out of her hand and slid across the room.

"Try disasterific," she mumbled, brushing herself off. I looked at her outfit in alarm. She had on an orange tank top and a miniskirt. Her boobs were practically popping out of her shirt, which took me by surprise. "I'm Rikku. What's your name?"

"I'm Lily."

"Nice to meet you."

"I was going to explore a bit. Do you wanna come?"

"Sure. Let me just shove my bags in the closet. I'll unpack later." Rikku, not Riku, seemed nice enough. She hurried in her room, dragging her rolling suitcase behind her. A few seconds later, she reappeared in the living room. "Let's go. I'll introduce you to some of my friends. I told them to wait for me in the lobby. We can go grab some pizza or something."

"Okay," I said, shutting the door behind me. She skipped down the staircase and into the overly _blue_ lobby, where a group of people were already waiting. She kissed one of the blonde guys, who was actually kind of cute. But it's not like I was a man stealer or anything.

"Lily, this is Gippal," she said, referring to the one she'd just kissed. "Vaan, and my cousin Yuna."

"Nice to meet you guys," I said.

"Can we get out of here? I'm starving," Vaan complained. "Let's get Patsy's Pizza."

Rikku leaned closer to me. "They have the _best_ pineapple pizza on campus."

Gippal chuckled. "More like the _only_ pizza on campus."

I spotted Ventus or Roxas and the others coming into the lobby. "I'll be right back," I said, hurrying toward them.

"Hey," said Roxas or Ventus. I raised my eyebrow, trying to figure out who it was. "I'm Ven. The asshole's over there, flirting with Namine." I laughed. "Where are you headed?"

"I'm going with my roommate, Rikku, and her friends to Patsy's Pizza."

"We were thinking about heading over there too. Maybe I'll see you there."

"Maybe." He gave me a wink before walking away. I was starting to like Ventus. Maybe as more than just friends. I wasn't sure yet.


	2. Conquering Hearts

**VENTUS POV**

I'd wanted to go to Patsy's for dinner, but everyone else insisted on getting sandwiches in the cafeteria, for whatever reason. I ate my sandwich in silence while everyone else talked about their schedules. But I wasn't listening. I was too wrapped up in my thoughts… of what Lily was up to. Was she having fun? I sure wasn't.

Roxas and I walked back to our dorm at nine. No one was outside anyway. Everyone was probably exhausted and ready to call it a night.

I saw her when Roxas and I walked into the lobby. She was talking to Rikku and Vaan. Rikku's boyfriend kissed her before leaving. I jogged over to Lily. Vaan and Rikku walked away, eyeing me and Lily suspiciously. "I missed you at Patsy's," she said.

"Yeah," I said nervously. "We decided to get sandwiches at the café instead."

"That's too bad," she said. "It would've been more fun if you were there." Was she flirting with me? Or was my mind playing tricks on me? She added quickly, "It was a little awkward with Rikku making out with Gippal every five seconds." Maybe she wasn't flirting with me. Maybe she didn't like me like that. Was it strange that I was falling for her and I only met her a few hours ago?

I smiled, not sure of what else to do. "Did you have fun with Rikku? Well besides the whole making-out-with-Gippal-thing?"

"Yeah. I like her… and the others. Do you ever hang out with them?"

"No, not really. It's not that I don't like them. I guess it just never came down to it, you know?"

"It's cool. I understand."

"Lily!" called Rikku from the elevator. She and Yuna were holding it. Kaia looked back, mouthing to her roommate.

"I'm sorry. I gotta go, Ven," Lily said. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure, Miss Popularity," I said. Ven? She'd called me by my nickname for the first time since we'd met. That meant that she felt comfortable with me, right? I smiled the whole elevator ride upstairs. Luckily I was alone; no one saw me smiling like a complete jackass.

After I showered, I turned the lights out and crawled into my bed, which happened to have blue sheets. Roxas came in a moment later, turned the lights on, and sat at the foot of the bed. "What are you doing?" I demanded, glaring at him.

Unfortunately, at Sacred Hearts, siblings were immediately roomed together… but only if you were the same age. So to my dismay, I was stuck with my idiot brother.

"So I just got a text from Sora, who got a text from Kairi, who got a call from Hope, who overheard Rikku saying that you and Lily were flirting in the lobby."

My eyes widened in surprise. How did Kairi know? And Hope? They were both sophomores, across the campus in another dorm. And it had happened less than a half hour ago! How did all these people know already? One thing about Sacred Hearts was that gossip spread like wildfire. There was no cheating on your girlfriend, or hiding from someone you were avoiding, because odds were someone would rat you out one way or another. Then that's when the drama began.

"We were not!" I protested. "We were just talking, Rox."

"No need to lie, brother. You and I both know that you have a crush on Lily," Roxas said, getting off of the bed. "Sweet dreams, lover boy." He turned my light off and shut the door behind him. _Great_, I thought. _By tomorrow everyone will think we're together._

* * *

**CLOUD POV**

There she was again. Looking as beautiful as ever. She was on the patio, looking off into the night sky. This was my chance to finally talk to her. I opened the sliding glass door, leading onto the patio. Lightning looked at me, raising her eyebrows.

"Can I help you?"she asked. I kept my cool. My face remained expressionless.

"Not especially," I said, standing next to her. I didn't look at her no matter how much I wanted to. I kept my eyes focused on the moon instead.

"Why are you here?" she asked. I felt her looking at me, but I still refused to face her.

"You looked lonely."

"Well, I'm not," she said abruptly.

"I wouldn't expect you to be, now that I'm standing next to you."

She made a sound, almost like a laugh. "Is this supposed to be an attempt at flirting with me?"

"Now, who said _anything_ about flirting with you?" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shoot me a look of disbelief. Then I walked off of the balcony before she could utter a word.

* * *

**LILY POV**

I woke up in the morning around ten feeling refreshed. My phone vibrated from my nightstand. I rubbed my eyes and reached for it. I had a text message from Noel: _What's all this I'm hearing about you and some kid named Ventus?_

What? What were people saying about me and Ven? Nothing was going on between us, but apparently everyone else thought otherwise. And how the hell did Noel know about it? He was a senior for Etro's sake. I groaned and got out of bed, making it up before I went into the living room.

Rikku was already awake, watching some show on tv. "Good morning," she said, with a mischievous smirk plastered across her face. "So everyone's talking about it."

"About me and Ventus?" I asked.

"Yeah," said Rikku. "What's up with you two, anyway?"

"Nothing! We're just friends! We only met yesterday."

"Everyone thinks you're a couple now. I mean, _even_ the freshman know."

I rolled my eyes. I went in my room and got dressed. I put my chocolate brown hair into a ponytail and brushed my teeth. Sure, I liked Ven—in a more than friends way—but that didn't mean that I wanted the whole school to think we were together. Especially since we were never together in the first place. "I'm gonna go fix this," I said. Rikku wished me luck before I closed the door behind me, stepping into the blue hallway.

Too much light peered through the windows in the staircase, almost blinding me. My eyes obviously hadn't adjusted to the sunlight yet. I looked out the window, which had a magnificent view of the beach. The sand was white and the crystal clear water was washing onto the shore, shimmering in the early morning sun.

Maybe I'd find Ven in the café. After all, my stomach was growling anyway. I hurried down the stairs and across the lobby. Vaan tried to say hi to me but, to be honest, I didn't really notice. I pushed the doors open, leaving my dorm hall. I didn't have trouble finding him. Him, or Roxas, was standing right in front of me.

"Ven?" I asked, looking sideways. He shook his head, confirming that it was Roxas. "Do you know where he is?"

"What? No good mornings?" he asked, looking offended.

I'd been so hasty, I'd completely forgotten my manners. "Oops. Good morning, Roxas."

"Anyway," he said. "Your boyfriend is walking toward us as we speak."

"That's not my—" I started.

"Hi, Lily," said Ven, scratching his head. Roxas left, smirking his way to the café. He looked back at us one last time before disappearing through the doors.

"Good morning," I said. After a few rather awkward seconds, I decided to break the ice. "Do rumors always spread this quickly?"

"I think this year, we've broken a new record," he said. He paused. "I'm sorry you had to get dragged in all of this so soon."

"It's okay. I just wanted to see if you were okay with it."

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice here, since the whole school thinks you're my girlfriend."

"Well, come on," I said. "Let's get some breakfast before they eat everything."

* * *

**NOEL POV**

I spotted my sister walk through the doors of the café, with some kid. "Who's that kid with my sister?" I asked, nudging Maqui.

With a mouth full of food, he managed to say, "That's the kid she's with. Ventus." I felt my face get hot, which usually meant that color was starting to rush to my cheeks, the way it always did when I got upset. I got out of my chair and stormed over to my sister, who hadn't even bothered to answer my text from earlier. "Lily! What the _hell_?"

She looked startled, as did Ventus. "We're not even together, Noel! You're causing a scene for no reason!" I looked around me. Of course, all eyes were on the three of us. "Don't believe every rumor you hear… Especially not at this school." Then she was gone, dragging Ventus behind her. I just stood there, with everyone looking at me. I stormed out of the café and went outside to pace back and forth.

"Noel!" I saw Serah hurrying toward me, with some guy running behind her. "Good morning," she said. The guy caught up with her. "This is my boyfriend, Zack. Zack, this is my new friend, Noel."

"Hey," said Zack, slapping hands with me. "Nice to meet you, Noel."

"Nice to meet you too."

Serah frowned, looking at me with concern. "Are you okay? Your face is really red."

"I'm fine. I just yelled at my sister in front of the café for going out with Ventus. But it might be a rumor. Or maybe she just doesn't want to tell me," I said.

"I heard about that. I'm sorry. Rumors at Sacred Hearts start up really easily," Serah said. Zack stood there awkwardly, swaying from side to side.

"I'm gonna go find Cloud," he said, kissing her on the cheek before he took off.

"I can see that now. I'd better not do anything that can be held against me later," I said, letting a smile form on my face.

"I'd better go get some breakfast before Zack eats all of the muffins," she said. She waved at me and then disappeared through the doors of the café.

Serah was sweet. She was friendly. She was pretty… very pretty. But she had a boyfriend. And Zack didn't look like the kind of guy you wanted to mess with. So there was nothing I could do but wait, hoping that they'd break up sometime soon. Was it evil for me to have these thoughts? Maybe, but I couldn't help myself.

I went back up to my room. Suddenly I didn't want to go back and finish my breakfast anymore. I'd find Lily and apologize later. I shouldn't have approached her about it in public. But I guess it was my "big brotherly" instincts that kicked in first. I just didn't want anyone to hurt her. If she was going out with that Ventus guy, I hoped that he'd make her happy.

* * *

**THE NEXT DAY…**

* * *

**CLOUD POV**

My first class was History. Mr. Raines was explaining his rules and guidelines, as if they'd suddenly changed. I was daydreaming until a piece of paper was placed onto my desk. "What's this?" I asked aloud.

"That, Mr. Strife, is your project. It will be due in a month, which is more than enough time to get it finished," he explained. "I will choose your partners and you will make a presentation on an important event that has gone down in history, in any of the worlds. By Friday, you'll need to have chosen your topic."

Great. The first day of class and we already had some project to do. I read the handout. It didn't seem too difficult. But how much work I'd get done depended on who I got partnered up with.

"Gippal, you'll be working with Aqua."

"Zack and Reks."

"Serah and Noel."

"Snow and Tifa."

"Cloud and Claire."

"What?" I shouted, not meaning to. That thought wasn't supposed to leave my mind, but I was so surprised that it must've slipped. Me? Paired up with Claire? How the hell was I supposed to concentrate if I was paired with her.

"I said that you and Claire will work together, Cloud," said Mr. Raines. I sighed and looked over to my new partner, who wasn't showing any signs of emotion. Mr. Raines continued to call out a few more names. Soon enough, the bell rang. Everyone poured out of the classroom, but I stayed behind.

"Mr. Raines," I said, approaching my teacher at his desk. He was flipping through a folder with what looked like millions of papers.

"Yes, Cloud?" he asked, not looking up at me.

"I can't work with her. Claire, I mean."

"Well, I'm afraid you'll have to put your differences aside for this project. There is no one else to work with."

"You don't understand. I _can't_," I said desperately, hoping that I'd get him to change his mind.

"There's nothing I can do, Cloud. Put aside your differences and get a good grade. I opened my mouth to say something, but thought better of myself. I frowned and walked out of the classroom, where Claire seemed to be waiting for me. _Crap_, I thought. _She heard every word._

She gave me an icy glare for several seconds before storming off to her next class. If looks could kill, I would've dropped dead about thirty seconds ago. I pushed my way through the crowded hallway, filled with noisy freshman and sophomores, to go to the gym.

Just thinking about being alone with her to work on our project was enough to make me go insane, especially since she probably hated me. This was unreal. Was I dreaming? I pinched myself as I walked into my gym class. _Nope_, I thought sadly. _It's real_.

A second before I walked into the gym, the bell rang. "You're late, Strife!" boomed Coach Jecht.

"But it was only by a second!" I complained. He ignored my complaint and finished taking attendance. I went to the locker room to change, where I was greeted by Zack. "I hate you," I said.

"What'd I do?" he asked with a stupid smile.

"_You_ didn't get paired up with Claire for our project!" I hissed.

"She's in this class, you know. You should talk to her." I punched him in the arm. He rubbed it in response, looking hurt. "Ouch! You're going to have to talk to her sooner or later, if you want to get your project done."

"I don't think I can. I've ruined everything," I said. Zack gave me a look, urging me to continue. "After class, I asked Raines if I could switch partners. He said no, of course, but she was right outside the classroom. You should've seen the look she gave me."

"Oh no," Zack said. "I don't know what to tell you." I rolled my eyes and pulled my gym shorts on.

"I don't know what to tell me either," I mumbled under my breath. Then Zack and I hurried back onto the gym floor, where Jecht was threatening to give someone detention, for whatever reason. This year, Coach Jecht was probably going to make everyone hate him more than we already did. I had no idea how Tidus dealt with him, in _and_ out of school.

To my dismay, Jecht announced that we'd be doing a relay race. And the worst part was that Claire was on my team. And she had to make physical contact with me, by handing me the baton when she ran back. _This is officially the worst day ever_, I thought.

Jecht blew the whistle, starting the race. Zack took off, nearly at the speed of light, putting us in the lead. He tagged Terra, who tagged Claire a few seconds later. She was faster than she looked. She could compete with Zack. I held my hand out, in anticipation. But Lightning didn't look like she was slowing down. I saw her smile before her body slammed into mine and I flew backward a few feet onto my ass. _She definitely hates me_, I thought, realizing that my situation was hopeless.

"Detention!" shouted Jecht at my crush, who I now had absolutely _no_ chance with. I saw Lightning smirk before coming over to me. She reached a hand out to help me. I stood up on my own since she'd most likely put me into a headlock and squeeze the life out of me.

"What?" she said in a seductive tone. "Don't trust me?"

"Not exactly," I said, brushing myself off.

She rolled her eyes, ignoring me. "Meet me after school in front of the fountain so we can discuss our project, since you're stuck with poor me," she said, venom dripping off of every word. Then she simply walked away before I could even apologize. She wouldn't even look at me for the rest of the class.

* * *

**LILY POV**

Everyone stared at me as I walked to the café for lunch. I assumed the rumors of me and Ven were still definitely going around. I hated when people stared at me. I always felt so small and hopeless.

I walked up the stone steps and stepped inside, once I'd pushed them open. I picked up a sandwich pack from the refrigerators and grabbed a bottle of water. I scanned the room, looking for people that I knew.

Namine spotted me. "Hey, Lily! Over here!" she shouted, waving me over. Ven turned around with a warm smile. Why did he have to be so attractive?

"How's your first day?" asked Sora, who I decided to sit next to. His girlfriend, Kairi was on the other side of him.

"It's pretty good. I like my classes. All of you are in them anyway, except for Kairi and Namine," I explained. "Is Lulu always that moody?"

"Yes," said Ven. "Especially if she has to repeat herself. Freshman year, she nearly bit my head off for asking what can neutralize fire magic."

"Well it's pretty obvious. That was just a stupid question," said Roxas, taunting his twin. Ventus gave his brother a shove. He mouthed that Roxas was an asshole to me, making me laugh a little.

"What are you doing later?" Ven asked, turning to me. Roxas and Vanitas both started making coughing sounds, while everyone else joined in. He shot his brother, and Sora's, a cold glare. "I was _going_ to say that we should all hang out on the beach. We could study or something."

"The only thing we'll be studying are all the hot seniors in bikinis," said Vanitas. He high fived Roxas, laughing.

"Do you think any of the seniors would give you guys a shot?" I asked, curious.

"Of course," Vanitas said. "Tifa knows she wants me."

"No," Roxas said, shaking his head. A huge grin broke out on his face. "I know _Aqua_ is available." Ven blushed, his whole face lighting up pink.

"Don't talk about her," snapped Ven.

"Or what?" challenged his brother. With that, Ven leapt across the table and tackled his look alike, landing them both on the floor. Ven started banging his brother's head into the floor. Roxas pushed Ven off and landed a punch in his face. I jumped up while everyone else was encouraging the fight.

"I bet you ten gil that Roxas is going to beat Ven into a pulp," I heard Vanitas say as I rushed over to them. I tried to pull Ven off of his brother, who was still on top of Ven trying to punch him. Ven was on the floor trying to do the same. My attempts, however, failed. I wasn't even sure Ven could tell that I was trying to get him off of Roxas.

"Ven! Roxas! That's enough!" I yelled. But they didn't hear me. I heard the clicking and clacking of high heeled shoes. My eyes met with a pair of magenta heels. I looked up to find a blonde with short pixie cut hair staring at all three of us unhappily. At this point, the fighting had stopped. "That's _quite_ enough fighting, boys," she said in a high pitched voice. "Detention! All three of you!"

"But—," I started. But it was no use. She had gone just as swiftly as she came.


	3. Shattered Hearts

**ROXAS POV**

Thanks to Ven, I had detention. Leblanc gave us detention with no problem. I hated her stupid, ridiculous fuchsia outfits and her stupid high heels to match, adorned with stupid heart symbols. I hated Ven and his stupid looks, identical to mine.

I scowled as I sat in a desk next to Lily, who sat next to Cloud, who sat next to Lightning, who sat next to Ven. We were all set up in a row. And unfortunately, Leblanc was our supervisor for detention. She stared at us with her piercing brown eyes as we sat in silence. If any of us dared to speak, I knew she'd give us an extra week's worth of detention.

I had to be in this room full of idiots for two whole hours! I could be at the beach with everyone else having the time of my life, but I was here staring at the stupid walls of this cursed room.

Headmaster Balthier popped into the room. "Leblanc, could I see you for about ten minutes? I got a hold of Mr. Fair, who agreed to make sure that no one talks."

"Okay," she said, slipping out of the room. The senior named Zack came in and sat down at the desk, putting his feet up. He smacked obnoxiously loud on a piece of gum, which annoyed me.

"What are you doing here, Zack?" asked Cloud.

Zack smirked. "I'm just doing Headmaster Balthier a favor. So feel free to talk everyone," addressing the rest of us.

I immediately turned to my brother. "Thanks a lot, Ven," I snapped. "Detention on our first day!"

"You asked for it!" yelled Ven from a few desks away.

"Shut up!" yelled Lily. I wasn't sure if she was talking to me or Ven, so I left it alone.

* * *

**CLOUD POV**

I couldn't believe I had detention. Jecht was such an asshole. And to top it all off, I was sitting next to Claire. She'd tried to kill me. "Don't you have anything else better to do?" I asked Zack.

He smiled. "Well Tifa is on the beach with Reks or something. I didn't want to be a third wheel. And Serah is doing homework. You know how she is. So to answer your question, no."

Claire cleared her throat, getting my attention. I turned to her, narrowing my eyes. "Is there a reason that you tried to kill me earlier?" I asked, coldly.

"Is there a reason that you don't want to work with me?" she asked in retort. I couldn't answer that. My face turned slightly red in embarrassment. Thankfully, she didn't wait for me to respond. She rolled her eyes at the two twins arguing on the other side of us. "I was thinking that for our project that we do it on the War of Transgression."

"No way!"

"Then what do _you_ suggest?"

"The Wutai War."

"I don't know anything about that."

"Well I don't know anything about your topic either."

"This isn't going to work. Raines should've paired us up according to what worlds we belong to."

"Well whether you like it or not, we're stuck together."

"You have to agree on a topic by Friday," sang Zack from the teacher's desk. I shot him a look that made him look away.

"We can discuss this at dinner," said Lightning.

"A date?" asked Zack, who was obviously eavesdropping. Lightning rolled her eyes again.

"As I was _saying_," she said, glaring at Zack She didn't take her eyes off of him. "We can talk about it at dinner. Or after."

"I'll come find you," I said. Zack jumped out of his chair.

"She's coming! She's coming! Sit _down_, Ventus!" he hissed at the junior, who scrambled into his seat before Leblanc walked through the door.

* * *

**NOEL POV**

I saw Serah sitting in the library, poring over one of her textbooks. I took the seat across from her. "What are you studying?" I asked.

"Potions," she replied, looking up to smile at me.

"We had a reading assignment?"

She shook her head, her pink ponytail bobbing from behind her. "No. I just like to read ahead…to stay on top of things."

"So you'd rather be here than to be out on the beach?"

"That sounds tempting."

"So I'll meet you there in twenty minutes. No excuses," I said, not giving her a chance to say no. I heard her laugh behind me as I walked to the Hall of Dancing Flames, where I quickly changed out of my uniform: a white shirt and blood red pants, with a tie to match. I slipped into my swimming trunks and grabbed my beach towel off of my bed. I closed my door behind me. Yuj's door was open, so I assumed that he was already outside somewhere.

I walked out of my dorm room and into the unnecessarily red hallway. I saw a few seniors roaming the halls, most likely waiting for friends. I ran my fingers through my hair as I took the elevator to the ground floor. I spotted my sister's roommate sitting in an armchair by the window. "Rikku, right?" I asked. The blonde Al Bhed nodded.

"That's me," she said loudly.

"Have you seen my sister, Lily?"

"I heard that she had detention. It was something about her, Ventus, Roxas, and a fight or something."

I put a hand to my temple. Was this a rumor too? Or was it actually true. At this school, it was difficult to tell what was true and what wasn't. I pushed my "brotherly instinct" to go and punch Ventus in the face out of my mind and took a deep breath. I thanked Rikku and hurried off to the beach.

I treaded through the hot sand. I passed groups of freshman and sophomores. I saw the group of kids that Lily always seemed to hang out with. I looked out at the water, which glistened in the sun. This beach was nothing like I'd ever seen.

On Cocoon, the closest thing we'd had to a beach was Bodhum. I'd only been there once, with Lily and my parents. We went to see the show of fireworks that painted the sky a million different colors.

That was before the chaos plagued our world. Black tendrils of darkness swallowed everything whole. Most couldn't escape it, but my family did, as well as some kids at Sacred Hearts. I was young then, Lily even younger. The pain was still there, like darkness in my heart. All of the people I loved were gone, except for my immediate family. My friends, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins… All lost to chaos and destruction.

I missed Cocoon, but Espia was home now… It was home to everyone who had lost their world to some sort of disaster and survived. Yuj slapped me on the back, pulling me back into reality. He'd said something, but I'd been too wrapped up in my thoughts to hear him. "Huh?" I said, undoubtedly puzzled.

Yuj shook his head and started walking on my right side. "Were you thinking about Serah?" I opened my mouth to protest, but he continued before I could come up with an excuse. "Don't think I don't see the way you look at her. I'm very observant," he said, "but don't worry. You're secret is safe with me."

"Thanks for that. I just wish she was single, you know?" Yuj nodded his head, in empathy. He turned around and shot me curious look.

"She's coming up behind us. And she's looking very…divine in her bikini," Yuj said, winking. I felt myself blush a little, but hopefully no one saw that. Serah appeared at my right side.

"Hey guys," she said. I gave her a nod, while Yuj said hello. "It's a beautiful day. I can't believe that I was actually considering staying in the library when I could be out here."

"You're such a nerd," said Yuj playfully.

Serah's ocean blue eyes opened wide. Yuj had been right, she looked amazing. She had the perfect, slender body. She was the perfect height, not drastically shorter than his six feet. She'd taken her hair out of its ponytail and let her luscious pink waves fall down halfway down her back. She wore a floral print bikini top, which made her breasts stand out. Not that I was looking. "I am not!" she said rather dramatically. I noticed that she had a coat of sparkly gloss on her small pink lips.

She was nearly perfect in every way, except for the fact that she had a boyfriend. And to top things off, Zack was running toward us, kicking white sand as he came. "Serah!" he said, scooping her up off of her feet. She giggled and smiled before kissing him full on the mouth. "I thought you were studying."

"Noel convinced me to come out here," she said. "I'm glad he did. It's beautiful out here."

Zack nodded at me, smiling. "I've never been able to convince her to do anything," he said. Then, thoughtfully, he added, "You must be quite the smooth talker."

"Um…sure," I said, trying significantly hard not to let anyone know I was blushing again. I set up my towel next to Aqua's, who was currently tanning. "Hey, Aqua."

She took off her sunglasses, revealing her sparkling blue eyes and long lashes. "Hi, Noel," she said, smiling. "How was your first day?"

I shrugged. "Can't complain," I admitted. Then I smiled. "At least I'm not in detention right now. I can't say the same about my sister though."

"Lily? I heard that she, Ven, and Roxas got into a fight at lunch today. But I could be wrong. The truth is one of the hardest things to find at Sacred Hearts."

"So I've heard," I said. I looked out into the water to find everyone else splashing about, throwing a beach ball around. "So why is it that you're not out there with everyone else?"

"I need to tan," she said simply, putting her sunglasses back on and lying back down onto her towel. "I mean, look how pale Serah is. You get that pale if you stay locked up inside all of the time. I'm taking in the good weather while I can."

"Come on," I said, standing up. "Let's get in the water." Aqua took her sunglasses off again and stood up. She smiled at me and sighed.

"I suppose a little swim couldn't hurt."

* * *

**KAIRI POV **

Instead of playing volleyball with our friends, Sora and I decided to lounge around on our beach towels and make out instead. Suddenly, mid kiss, a volleyball hit me in the head. "Ouch," Sora said, rubbing his spiky head. I smirked, trying not to laugh. Sora turned around to find Vanitas coming toward us to scoop the ball up.

"Oops," he said sarcastically, picking up the ball. "Didn't mean to…interrupt."

"You're just jealous because Tifa isn't interested!" my boyfriend snapped.

"You take that back!" his twin yelled.

"No! You always do this!"

"Do what?"

"You know what!" I didn't bother to stick around for the argument. They were constantly arguing, possibly more than Ven and Roxas. I snatched the volleyball out of Van's hand. To be honest, he didn't seem to notice. His face was ruddy from yelling at Sora. I pranced over to Namine and Xion, who looked annoyed from the interruption of the game.

"Good," said Namine, noticing me with the ball. "Those two don't look like they're stopping any time soon. You can take Van's place on the team with Hope and Riku." On the other side of the net was Namine, Xion, and Larsa.

I nodded and served the ball. Volleyball tryouts would be soon. I was always on the team. Wakka loved me; I was his star player. Unlike Jecht, Wakka pretty much liked everyone. I liked that about him.

* * *

**LIGHTNING POV**

I was relieved when Leblanc announced that detention was over and that we could leave. Everyone, quite literally, ran out of the classroom. We'd lost two hours of a beautiful day. The sun would be setting soon and I wanted to get to the beach before everyone started to leave.

I headed toward my dorm, with Cloud and Zack walking behind me. I heard them whispering and giggling about something, but I didn't care enough to ask what the hell was so funny.

I hurried into the dorm that I shared with Serah. Surprisingly she wasn't at her desk hunched over some textbook. _She's probably in the library_, I thought as I put on my favorite silver bikini. I pulled a tank top over my head and put on some shorts to cover up. It was against the conduct rules to walk around half naked through the campus unless, of course, you were already in the water.

I was a little nervous about meeting Cloud to discuss our project. He intimidated me. I didn't know why. But I never showed this emotion. I rarely showed emotion. It was easier that way. I never had to deal with people asking me "What's wrong?" or "Are you okay?" I preferred to be distant. I had a small circle of friends, nothing more and nothing less. I stayed within my circle, rarely socializing with others.

But in my case, I had no choice but to work with Cloud. I wondered why he didn't want to work with me. I'd hardly ever spoken to him. He had no reason not to like me, except when I knocked him over in gym earlier. But besides that, I couldn't think of any other reasons.

Maybe I'd ask him. Would he answer me? Would it be the truth? Or would it be a lie? I couldn't be sure since I didn't know him very well.

I was hurt when I heard him and Mr. Raines outside the classroom. _You don't understand. I _can't, he'd said, desperation lacing his words. I'd only been going back to ask a question about the project when I'd heard him practically begging our teacher to let him switch partners. My heart had dropped. Things like that usually wouldn't hurt me but, for some reason, this time it did.

What was it about Cloud Strife that made me feel this way? He made me nervous. No one ever made me nervous before. I didn't know why Cloud changed that. It wasn't like I'd never come across him before. So why were things different now?

* * *

**LILY POV**

I couldn't believe that _I'd_ gotten detention. I hadn't even been involved in the fight. I was only trying to prevent Roxas and Ven from killing each other. But Leblanc hadn't seen that, obviously. Or maybe she just didn't like me. Lucky for me, I had her for Technology tomorrow. Ven and Roxas had finally stopped arguing as we swiftly walked to the beach.

None of us had had a chance to change, but I didn't care. I thought I looked cute in my uniform, with my navy blue skirt, white shirt and a matching tie. For someone who'd just gotten out of detention, I was suddenly in a good mood. As we stepped onto the sand, I smelled the salt of the ocean in the air. The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky blue, orange, and pink.

I spotted some friends sitting near the volleyball net. "It's about time," Riku said, looking up at the three of us. "We kicked some ass in volleyball, thanks to Kairi. Namine, Hope, and Larsa didn't stand a chance."

Larsa groaned. "That wasn't fair. Kairi's already a volleyball player!"

Hope shrugged. "Whatever," he said. "I'm exhausted." He slumped back on his towel and put his head on Namine's lap. From the corner of my eye, I saw Roxas scowl.

Ven stepped in front of me, cutting me off. He frowned. "Can we talk?"

I nodded. "Okay." He grabbed my hand, pulling me in the opposite direction of our friends. We walked far away from the part of the beach where our classmates were, close to the rocks.

Then he stopped and looked me in the eyes. "I'm sorry," he said. "About getting you detention. Rox is just so…"

I smiled. I wasn't mad at him. "I get it. I have a brother too, you know. Except I don't share a room with him."

"And I'm sorry for everything. About all the rumors, just everything."

"It's not your fault. But can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead," he nodded. "Yeah."

"Who's Aqua?"

He frowned again. "You really want to know?" I nodded. He let out a huge sigh. "She broke my heart…" He walked closer to the water, allowing the bottom of his shoes to get a taste of the ocean water, his back turned to me. "She told me that she loved me… I was stupid enough to believe it. Then summer came, we both went home. She promised that we'd try to see each other. We spoke on the phone a couple of times and we'd make plans to meet, but she'd always cancel…saying that something came up or something." He turned back toward me, his blue eyes clouded with sorrow and sadness.

He continued. "I knew that something was up, but I never questioned it. We didn't see each other until everyone got on the boat. I saw her and she acted like nothing had ever happened between us. Like we'd never kissed...like I was never her boyfriend…as if I was _nothing_ to her. Then Terra came up to her and kissed her _right_ in front of me. I didn't say anything. I just walked away, hurt. Then I found out that one of the other seniors, Snow, had dared her to do it all. She's a year older…I should've known better. But I was stupid, so stupid. At first, I was angry. But I realized it was no use. It's not like she'd care."

"I'm sorry," I said, not sure of what else to say. I'd never even had a boyfriend. I didn't know what it was like to have my heart broken. "I didn't know."

"It's fine. I'm okay," he said. I saw a single tear fall down his cheek, so I wrapped my arms around him, letting his head rest on my shoulder. I wanted to tell him how much I liked him, but I wasn't sure that this was the right time. He was still upset about Aqua. It was too soon to tell him. Too soon. He pulled away from me and smiled. "Thank you, Lily."

I couldn't take it anymore. Instead of saying the expectant "You're welcome," I leaned in and pressed my lips against his. He didn't pull away from me, which was a good sign. I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened our kiss. Ven carefully placed his hands around my waist, trying not to touch my butt, which I appreciated.

His lips were soft and warm. This was only my second kiss, but it was the best one I'd had yet. It upset me that he'd once kissed Aqua with those lips. He didn't deserve her. He deserved someone so much better, someone that would care for him and hold him when he was lonely. I could do all of those things.

He pulled away, leaving me wanting more. He gave me a small smile. "I've been wanting to do that since I met you," he said, cupping my face in his hands. He brushed a soft kiss on my lips. "I hope no one saw that. But I guess that wouldn't be too much of a problem, since everyone already thinks we're together."

I laughed and sat down against a large boulder, out of view of our classmates. Ven sat down next to me. I loved watching the sunset. It was much better watching the sun set on Espia than on Cocoon. Noel and I always used to sit in front of the house and watch silently every day before dinner.

I stared out into the darkening sky with my crush. He reached over and took my hand in his. As everyone was heading to go get dinner, I was with the boy I had a crush on. I didn't care if we missed dinner. Nothing else mattered. At least, not to me.

* * *

**CLOUD POV**

"Have you seen Claire?" I asked her sister.

"She's out on the balcony," Serah said. I gave her a smile of thanks before throwing the rest of my salad away into the trash. I peered through the glass doors that led to the balcony. She was holding onto the ledge, looking out into the darkness that was now the beach.

I was still angry about what she'd done to me earlier, but I still liked her. I was actually feeling a little cocky. I slid the door open and stepped onto the balcony. I stood next to her, looking out into the night. I listened to the ocean waves. "What are you doing out here?" she asked coolly.

"You looked lonely," I said, simply shrugging my shoulders.

"I'm _not_ lonely," she shot back at me. I could feel her cold glare cutting into my skin. But I wouldn't allow my eyes to meet hers.

I smirked. "I wouldn't expect you to be," I said, "since I'm here with you."

Claire laughed. "Is this your idea of flirting?"

I laughed too, even louder. I turned to face her, finally meeting her cold, icy grey eyes. "Now who said _anything_ about flirting with you, Claire?"

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Don't call me Claire," she said, her face reddening. "It's Lightning to _you_."

"So, Claire, what ever are we to do about our project?" I asked, ignoring her request.

"We can't seem to agree on anything. You're stubborn," she said. She was right, I was stubborn. "So—"

I cut her off. "I was thinking that we do an event that has occurred in a different world… The Keyblade War, perhaps?"

She didn't narrow her eyes at me. She didn't glare at me or shoot me any looks of rage. Surprisingly, her expression softened. "Fine. The Keyblade War it is."

"We'll start research on Wednesday, at three," I said and exited the balcony before she could say a word. I noticed that she squirmed inside whenever I was the one taking control. I suppose I'd gotten my revenge for the day. I'd made Claire Farron feel defenseless and vulnerable. I could tell. _She'll fall for me soon enough_, I thought cockily.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Comment if you'd like to see different characters points of view in the next chapter! I was thinking of some RikkuxGippal or TidusxYuna** **or maybe ZackxSerah. I don't know. Tell me what you'd like. Don't be shy now lol :)**


	4. Split Hearts

**STELLA POV**

It was great to be back. I'd spent the summer traveling all over Espia with my father. It'd been an amazing experience, but I missed my friends. I wondered who my roommate was this year. I hoped that it wasn't anyone too overbearing and that I'd be able to get along with her.

I pulled my million bags into my room in the Hall of Dancing Flames that evening, expecting to find my roommate. Her door was open, but she was nowhere to be found. I sighed and went into my own room to begin unpacking. I neatly piled my clothes into my drawers and hung my jackets, coats, and uniforms in my closet. I put my wide assortment of shoes at the bottom of my closet.

I heard the front door open. A few seconds later, a girl appeared in my doorway. It was just Aqua, one of my close friends. She immediately ran to hug me. She briefly explained that she'd been looking for Serah, my real roommate. "Where have you been all summer?" she demanded. "You have to tell me everything."

I smiled, then remembered something. "Are you still 'with' Ven?"

She laughed. "Of course not. Do you know how many times he asked me to hang out with him over the break?" she asked. "I cancelled on him a million times. I was with Terra most of the summer, on the beach and stuff."

"So are there any new people this year?"

"There's this guy named Noel who is really cute. He's got a little sister, Lily. And that's all I know."

"Well I suppose that I'll have to meet this Noel guy."

Aqua shook her head. "You just think that you can have anyone you want, don't you?"

I slid my phone open to check the time, then closed it. I gave her a toothy grin. "Of course I can, if I play my cards right."

Aqua shook her head again. She grabbed my hand. "Come on, I'm starving."

"But my bed's a mess. I have to finish packing," I whined. "Let me just take five more minutes."

Aqua rolled her eyes in annoyance and grabbed my arm, dragging me out of the room and into the hallway. "Let's _go_, Stella."

* * *

**RIKKU POV**

As usual, Gippal and I sat next to each other at dinner. He took a huge bite of his cheeseburger, which annoyed me. I was a vegetarian and the smell of beef, in particular, grossed me out. Ketchup dripped down his chin. "Do you have to be so messy?" I complained, picking up a napkin. I wiped the ketchup off of my boyfriend's chin.

Tidus and Yuna came to the table with Paine. "What are you complaining about now?" asked Paine with a smirk. She sat down across from me.

"Gippal's being annoying," I said, peeking at a surprised Gippal next to me.

He took a few seconds to swallow his food before coming up with something to say. "I am not! You're just jealous because you don't eat burgers anymore."

"I wouldn't eat a burger if it was the last thing I did," I argued. "Ever since I became a vegetarian, I've lost so much weight."

Gippal gave her a look of disbelief. "_Please_," he said lazily. "You look the same as you did two years ago. Except for your tan."

I pouted. "Do not," I mumbled under my breath.

Tidus cleared his throat and Yuna pretended to look at Paine's hair. "What?" Paine said.

Tidus broke the silence. "So Blitzball tryouts are tomorrow! Are you trying out, Gippal?"

Gippal only laughed. He shook his head. "Blitzball's not really... my thing," he replied. "I think that you'd make a very suitable cheerleader though."

Tidus' face turned bright red. "I'm the captain!"

Gippal looked rather amused. "Really?" he asked, sarcasm dripping off the simple question. Tidus looked as if he were ready to put up an argument, but thought better of it. Gippal stood up an stretched. "I think I'm gonna hit the pool," he said. Then he locked eyes with Tidus. "_Swimming_ tryouts are next week." He planted a sloppy kiss on my cheek and walked away, leaving his garbage for me to clean up. Tidus scowled while I sighed. I picked up his tray and dumped it in the garbage.

When I returned to my salad, Yuna looked rather uncomfortable. I looked at her strangely. "Why the long face, Yunie?"

She hesitated. "If I heard something bad about Gippal, you'd want me to tell you, right?"

"What's going on?" I asked, looking at Tidus and Paine, who immediately looked away.

"I heard something about Gippal and some girl named Kali meeting up on the beach tonight," she said quietly. I barely heard her myself.

My green eyes widened. "What? No. Gippal wouldn't. He's going to the pool."

Then Tidus spoke. "Well did you ever think that he might have lied?"

I refused to believe that. I shook Tidus' theory off. Gippal loved me. He said so, many times. After debating about it for a few minutes, Paine snapped. "Rikku! You're in denial! Why not go to the pool and see if he's there? I'm sure that will prove enough."

I got up, stabbing a cucumber with my fork. "Fine!" I said through gritted teeth. "I'll go." I stormed out of the cafe, pushing past Stella-she'd just walked in with Aqua. In my hurry, I'd knocked her phone out of her hand, but I was too angry to apologize.

I gave it a few minutes before I went into the Pool House, in order to give him some time to get there and everything. Then I marched into the building, past the locker rooms, and into the pool. The lifeguard, Kairi, waved her arms from across the room. "Rikku! What are you doing! You can't be in here without pool shoes or flip flops!" she yelled. "You could slip.

I didn't care. I scanned the room for Gippal, but he was nowhere in sight. I only saw Lily and her friends splashing around in the water. Lily spotted me, waving me over. "Hey! Rikku!" I ignored her and left the pool instead. "What's her deal?" I heard one of the guys say before the door closed shut. I'd apologize later.

I sat outside on one of the benches so that I could think, but I knew that it was mostly because I was hoping that Gippal would walk this way. Maybe Tidus was right. Maybe he was lying about the pool.

I decided to go to his dorm even though, technically, I wasn't supposed to go beyond the lobby. I went up the stairs, red carpet beneath my feet, until I reached the third floor. I knocked on Gippal's door. Terra answered, opening the door wide. "Hey, Rikku. What's up?"

I put my hands on top of my head, the way I always did when I got nervous. "I just came to ask if you know where Gippal is."

"He's at the pool," he said, smiling. Either Terra was lying to protect his roommate or Gippal had lied to Terra too.

"Oh," I said. "Thanks Terra."

He smiled. "See you later," he said before closing the door. I turned my back to the door, defeated. But I didn't believe that Gippal had lied, so I went back to the Pool House, hoping that I'd missed him somehow. But when I peeked through the window, he still wasn't there.

Then I did the only thing I could do. I went back up to my room and took my binoculars out of my drawer. I'd used them the time that Yuna and I went to a Blitzball tournament and we'd had terrible seats. I smiled. _The good days_, I thought. _Before the drama of Sacred Hearts began to take over my life_.

I held the binoculars tightly as I walked out of the dorm and to the beach. We weren't allowed on the beach after sunset. But I'd already broken rules today and one more wouldn't hurt, as long as I didn't get caught. I put the binoculars up to my face and looked out into the blackness of the beach. I saw nothing. I put my binoculars down, wondering if going through all of this had been a waste of time.

I was proven wrong when I heard a laugh coming from further away. I looked through my binoculars again, only to find my boyfriend making out with some other girl. _Kali_, I thought. _Kissing my boyfriend on the beach_.

* * *

**LILY POV**

When I got back to my room after having fun in the pool with Ven and the others, I heard Rikku on the phone. Her face was stained with tears as she incoherently told a story to someone on the other line of the phone. "Yunie, I'll call you back," she said, snapping the phone shut with a click. Her hair was wet and she had a bathrobe on.

She came up to me and hugged me. "I'm so sorry," she said, sobbing on my shoulder. I rubbed her back.

"It's fine. It's nothing you have to cry about." I said, smiling. She let me go and looked at me.

"It's not that," she said. "Gippal... he... he's cheating on me with some girl named Kali. He told me that he was going to the pool. That's why I showed up there. And then... I asked Terra where he was and he said that Gippal was at the pool, so I went back and he still wasn't there. And that's when I went to the beach and saw everything!" she said, way too fast.

"Whoa!" I said. "Start over. Tell me everything, much slower than that." I sat next to her on the couch as she told me her story. This time I understood every word. I felt terrible. I thought that she and Gippal were Sacred Hearts' "golden couple." Apparently they weren't as "golden" as I'd thought. I hugged her. "I'll go get us some ice cream. My treat." She smiled before I left our dorm.

The night was cool. Not too hot, not too cold. The warm breeze blew, sending strands of my brown hair whipping in the wind as I walked through the ice cream parlor. It closed at nine and it was past eight, so I knew it would probably be crowded.

Surprisingly, when I got there, it wasn't crowded. There was hardly anyone in the small shop except for Noel and a girl that I didn't know. He got up when he saw me, mouth full of ice cream. "Hey, Lily," he said happily. He turned to face the girl, with light brown hair and pale lavender eyes . "This is Stella."

The girl named Stella smiled at me. "Hello, Lily. Do you want to join us?"

I shook my head. "Maybe some other time. I'm getting some ice cream for Rikku."

"Al Bhed Rikku?" she asked. I nodded. "Tell her that I said hello."

"I will," I said. "See you." I went up to the counter, ordering a huge banana split for me and Rikku to share. I gave the cashier ten gil and walked out of the shop, back to my dorm. I walked quickly, so that the ice cream wouldn't melt all over the place.

* * *

**NOEL POV**

Stella was nice. Definitely beautiful. She looked even better than Serah did. She was so prim and proper. So delicate... like a freshly bloomed flower.

I met her at dinner. Aqua had introduced me to her. From what Zack told me, Stella was the daughter of a wealthy businessman. Her father had companies all over Espia. I'd expected her to be a spoiled, rich, self-centered girl, but she wasn't. Zack also mentioned that she was single.

I supposed that solved the Serah problem, in a way. At least I didn't have to feel so guilty about having feelings for Serah. Zack and I had become friends and I didn't want Serah to get in the way of that. Zack never knew how I felt about his girlfriend. No one knew except for Yuj apparently.

She'd eaten with us at dinner as Zack told her all about the drama with my sister and Ven and everything else that had happened in the three days that school had been in session. Shortly after dinner, she asked me if I wanted to get ice cream with her. I would've been crazy not to agree. So that's how we ended up eating ice cream together.

"Are you daydreaming? Stella asked, taking a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. I realized that I'd been looking right at her.

"Maybe," I said.

"What were you thinking about?"

"You."

"What about me?" she asked. Her face turned slightly pink as she smiled.

"Your eyes," I said, studying her face. "They're beautiful."

"Thank you," she said, blushing a little. She put some gil on the table and got up. "We should probably get out of here." I stuck my hand in my pocket, digging for my gil, but Stella brushed her hand against mine. "My treat."

I opened my mouth to protest, but she wouldn't listen to me. She simply put a finger to my lips, enough to shut me up. We walked back to the Hall of Dancing Flames in silence, side by side.

When we got to the lobby, we both got into the elevator. The door closed, leaving us alone together. I pressed three. "Same floor as me," she said. A second later, the doors opened and we stepped out into the hallway. The halls were empty. Most people were probably already in their rooms. She turned to me. "I guess this is good bye."

"It doesn't have to be," I said.

She bit her lip. "What do you mean?"

"I want to take you on a date. A proper one."

She smiled and took out her phone. "Sure. What's your number?"

"Three nine four, seven one zero." My phone rang.

"There's my number," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow?" I slid my phone open to save her number.

I nodded and watched her go in the opposite direction, her hips swaying a little in her skirt. I smiled to myself and went to my room, where Yuj was on the phone with someone. _Probably Maqui_, I thought.

By the time I took my shower and came back out, Yuj attacked me with questions. "So you like Stella now? What happened to Serah?"

"Serah and I could never be, not when she's with Zack. And Stella? She's gorgeous and she's sweet and she's proper."

"I do have to admit, Stella's one of the prettiest girls at Sacred Hearts. But she never goes out with anyone. Ever."

"I must be an exception. She seemed to like me. She gave me her number and everything. My phone beeped. I slid it open, revealing a text message from my new crush: _I had a good time tonight, Stella_. I showed Yuj the text. "She wants me," I said theatrically, throwing myself onto the sofa. I loved this school.

* * *

**Poor Rikku :( Gippal's such an ass! But anyway, I threw Stella into the story because I think she's really pretty. Maybe I'll throw in Noctis somewhere. We'll see, we'll see. Anyway, don't forget, if you want to see different character point of views, just leave a review or message me and I'll take your suggestions into consideration.**


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